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Monday, July 13, 2015

Gallivanting in Galway

Day 2 --

After a rushed breakfast we headed to the bus station and, of course, had plenty of time (because we'd rushed breakfast). We caught our bus with no trouble and then dozed off the whole ride there. We were almost to Galway when I decided I should look at my paperwork and find the address for our hostel. I know the name was Kinlay Hostel, but with dread I read the address on the confirmation: 2-12 Lord Edward Street, Temple Bar, Dublin. I checked at the information desk at the bus station and they confirmed that they do indeed have a Kinlay Hostel in Galway, it seems I'd just booked the wrong one. We arrived and were able to get a room, but since they are not actually affiliated with each other, we ended up having to pay for two rooms (if I'd realized my mistake earlier I could have cancelled the night in Dublin). Oh well, all part of the adventure. We dropped off our bags and headed out to find some lunch.

The streets of Galway are so cute and we both liked it much better than Dublin. After wandering around for a bit, and getting distracted by some street performers, we stumbled upon an awesome placed called Finnegan's Corner. They offered traditional Irish Food and it's located in the oldest medieval building in Galway (apparently).

We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food was good and priced well - we'd have definitely returned had we stayed in town longer. The bread they served (not sure if it was just Irish Whole Wheat or Irish Soda bread) was amazing.

After lunch we wandered through town a bit more (and watched some more street performers - Galway is more of an artsy town) and then headed back to check in to our room. One of the employees suggested doing a canal walk and since we didn't really have any plans, we decided to give that a try.

It was a beautiful walk and it ended at Galway Cathedral. It's not an old church, it is the most recently built of Europe's great stone cathedrals: construction began in 1958. It's real name is actually Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas (or Ard-Eaglais Mhaighdean na Deastógála agus Naomh Nioclás if you speak Irish), but it's much easier to say Galway Cathedral.

On our way back into town we decided to sit in the grass, with our feet hanging over the edge of the canal and chat for a bit. A bit turned into a couple hours - the sun was shining and it was so peaceful. That's why you travel with people to have conversations and it was definitely a high-light of my day. We then wandered back towards our hostel, finding some lovely buildings along the way. It stays light for so long during the summer that we decided to try and find the cemetery and Lynch Castle before we called it a night. Sadly, the cemetery, which dates back to the 1500's had closed at 7pm, and when we found the castle we realized it was now a bank and we'd already walked by it twice that day! Oh well, the real adventure would start on the following day - we were picking up our rental car!!

canal (noun)

1. an artificial waterway for navigation, irrigation, etc.2. a long narrow arm of the sea penetrating far inland.3. channel; watercourse.Read about Day 3 here.